In many industries, it is commonplace to collect data about some target object. For example, in the vehicle service industry, it may be necessary to collect the vehicle identification number and mileage prior to servicing a vehicle. Likewise, during service, it may be necessary to collect diagnostic trouble codes and test result data from the vehicle. Once collected, the data is often analyzed to determine some output—a problem with the vehicle or the steps involved in a particular periodic service visit, for example.
As vehicles become more and more complex, however, the tools necessary for performing these sorts of diagnoses become more and more sophisticated. With increased sophistication come increased cost, size, and power requirements. Especially with regard to increased size and power requirements, the increase in sophistication may lead to an undesirable loss of portability of the data gathering tools. That is, simple data gathering tools often lack the necessary functionality, while data gathering tools providing such functionality may be costly and cumbersome.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a data management system that provides the requisite level of data gathering and analysis functionality while retaining a familiar, portable, and user-friendly form factor for the data gathering tools themselves.